Why should we care about the study of plants

Without plants, most life would not exist!

Photosynthesis has provided O2 for billions of years

Photosynthesis has provided O2 for billions of years




  • ↑ [O2] provided a new metabolic opportunity for biological diversification


  • ↑ [O2] promotes changes in chemical interactions between rocks, sand, clay, air, oceans, etc.


  • Allows plants to be the base of every food chain
    • starch storage in plants is major human food source

Almost every living thing interacts with plants in some way

Plants conditioned the land for animals



  • 400 MYA: oldest know insects


  • 397 MYA: tetrapods evolve in shallow water


  • 340 MYA: amphibians evolve


  • 310 MYA: reptiles evolve


  • Then… many mass extinctions

Plants are responsible for the products WE rely on





  • Vegetable and animal matter via agriculture and pasture lands


  • Textiles, lumber and medicine provide us quality of life


  • Spices, perfumes, dyes, food stabilizers, emulsifiers, Starbucks, etc. allow us to live our best life

Plants may be respsible for the future products we rely on

Plants may be respsible for the future products we rely on

Angiosperms are most important for humans




  • Flowering plants are most diverse and abundant group
    • ~350,000 species
    • relatively new in terms of evolution


  • Most plant products utilized by society from angiosperms
    • nearly all food staples


  • Irish potato famine nearly destroyed a society that was dependent on a single species of flowering plant

This semester, we will…..


  • Learn to identify plants in the wild
    • build real and virtual plant collections
    • learn the value of plants in the wild


  • Understand how plants function
    • identify how these processes affect humans


  • Explore the past, present and future of agriculture


  • Dig into the various ways plants define our culture
  • Start downloading some cool phone Apps
    • inaturalist
    • seek (by inaturlist)
    • itree


  • We will embrace tech, and use them all semester!

Journal Club next week





  • Read the Bar-On paper as a scientist
    • unpack the components of biomass on Earth
    • unpack the proportionate impact of humans


  • Evaluate your findings and ‘plant blindness’
    • be prepared to discuss